Attacking Corruption: The Power and Frustrations of the Blogosphere (Updated)

INTRODUCTION: I have been known to tell many of new found allies in the case of the corruption that I have found at Emory University, Grady Hospital and beyond that our opponents cannot control what I am doing because the internet is not controllable. It is a force beyond anyone's control.

For instance, a few weeks ago I wrote this story linking the murder of Derwin Brown, the suicide of Charles Hicks to a culture of corruption in Dekalb County under its "leader" Vernon Jones. The story started its journey on the front page of Real Clear Politics\ and then traveled its way across the country until hundreds of people began emailing it to each other (I know this through the technical way in which my stat counter tracks my visitors. It is too long and boring to explain so you will have to take my word for it) I even received this email in response to the story.

Mr. Volpe, Greetings... I have recently been reading many of your comments specifically relating to corruption, politics, and particularly Dekalb County.. You Sir are right on point!!! The dynamic that resulted in the ELECTED by the people Sheriff Derwin Brown (as opposed to the establishment "appointed" Sheriff Tommy Brown) was certainly a result of a vast conspiracy not merely the action of a single individual(Sid Dorsey)..

Derwin had himself uncovered many instances of longstanding good ole boy wink and nod politics and outright corrupt practices. Additionally, he aligned himself with individuals ( such as yours truly) who had personal knowledge of corrupt practices and deals that government officials elected in Dekalb had engaged by formed cozyrelationships with business people for their personal gain and pecuniary benefit. All be it strip club operators, county vendors, bail bondspeople, or off duty officers with private security accounts; Derwin represented the end of this type graft. These miscreants wanted him stopped and they stopped him. Maybe by not necessarily pulling the trigger but by creating an atmosphere and culture that resulted in demented and ignorant individuals like Dorsey, Cuffie, et al feeling that it needed to be done and should be done..

These tacitly involved individuals have Derwin's blood on their hand to the same extent as the trigger men... Moreover, allowing individuals like Vernon Jones, Charles Hicks, Louis Graham, and Thomas Brown (the prmier figurehead) to run the government is nothing short of a farce.. Mr. Hicks may have truly had a crisis of conscience and therein lies the reason for his unfortunate death (be it suicide or murder). The real power brokers (Bob Wilson, Ray Suddeth, Mark Dehler, Frank Redding, and Sembler) are the ones reaping the real benefits $$$ from these shenaigans in Dekalb County government over the last 15 years. Unfortunately, it is at great cost to the taxpayers and underminds the sheer fiber that our Constitution is foundationed upon and yes cost at least one hero his life..

I received several such emails and a host of new and important contacts as a result of internet travels of that story. No amount of corruption can stand up to the power of the internet, email, and how that dynamics brings everyone together.

The feedback hasn't always been good. For instance, I recevied this email from Dr. Michael Ward of the University of Cincinnati. He has some incendiary things about Kevin Kuritzky, the whistle blower that first turned me onto this story.

Mike, Just wanted to let you know that you shouldn't get taken in by Kevin Kuritzky. The guy is a pathological liar and I have personally been taken in by his stories only to realize that he was flat out lying. I also know numerous other people who have experienced the same. It is quite sad because he is a very charming, intelligent person. He just uses these skills to manipulate people. Don't get taken in by him.Mike--

Michael Ward MD,

MBA

Resident

Physician

Department of Emergency Medicine

University of Cincinnati

I invited Dr. Ward etc. etc. to back his vague and incendiary statements up with examples and evidence. He has declined and since the email is now my property I have decided to use every opportunity to use it to expose him as the fraud. He is of course welcome anytime to back up any of these statements. In the meantime, his own words will be on the internet for everyone to see.

Those are examples of using the blogosphere and the internet for positive and how it becomes the ultimate equalizer. On my site, Dr. Ward etc. etc. is no more powerful than anyone else, and through the reach of sites like Google his own words will be on display for anyone that cares. Now, I have introduced the positives of the blogosphere however this piece is about some of the filth and garbage that you find will navigating through and with that the introduction is over...


I will direct everyone to two separate sites in which, in my opinion, all of the worst of the internet came out. First, I have an admission to make. I traced a tentacle of this story down to Florida in the person of Dr. Andrew Agwunobi. He appears to be knee deep in the scandal at WellCare. Since he is currently in the REPUBLICAN administration, I see his exposure as a boon to all Democrats. Well, in terms of size and power the ultimate Democratic blogging site is Daily Kos.

While a true blue Republican would have difficulty there, I simply couldn't ignore their sheer size and numbers. I knew that I couldn't go there as myself, so I went there under the pseudonym, theprovacateur. (I know it is misspelled and so be it.) I received a lukewarm reception to my expose of Dr. Agwunobi. While most of the people that read it liked it, it wasn't nearly as popular as the most recent "expose of a Bush Lie, impeachable offense, and example of incompetence".

Next, I thought I would be more confrontational and inflammatory in a piece that was in response to another piece published by a regular of Daily Kos vis a vis Vernon Jones. Anyone who knows anything about the Kos knows that confrontational and inflammatory are not only welcomed but encouraged there. Welcomed and encouraged that is I found as long as you are attacking what they consider the enemy. Since I dared to attack one of their own, well suddenly the entire Kos site became quite sensitive. (Yes, this is a case of being able to dish it out but not taking it)

Here are some examples of the comments...

you need to give some serious thought to your approach to diarying here. You don't raise awareness about an issue by attacking another diarist who wrote something only very indirectly related to your issue, six freaking months ago. I suggest you delete this diary and try again. If Vernon Jones is your problem then write a diary about Vernon Jones. Don't write diaries accusing others of being "pathetic". That's not going to win you loyal readers.

And a last piece of advice: before you issue sweeping statements of condemnation about Kossacks, you'd better know what the f$%k you're talking about, because I will personally guarantee you that whatever the subject, there will be at least one person around who knows 10X more about it than you ever will. Now delete this ridiculous diary so that it doesn't show up on your "permanent record," and welcome to DailyKos.

Keep in mind that Vernon Jones is the subject of much of my wrath. Vernon Jones is most likely a multiple rapist, probably tied to a great deal of personal corruption, and certainly oversees not only a corrupt police force but also a corrupt public hospital. In other words this is a bad guy. Did I mention he is running for U.S. Senate? Yet, most of the wrath is directed at me, not Jones, because the language I used was "inappropriate". Those weren't the most revealing comments though. These two were.

Lots of places besides DailyKos to send this. (7+ / 0-) Recommended by:
Rebecca, JeffSCinNY, eeff, joanneleon, sbdenmon, Unduna, Goodbye Kitty
TPM Muckrakers, Open Left, FireDogLake, Americablog. Go for it. One more
crook killing people doesn't even qualify as news anymore. Good luck.

Local GA political blogs (3+ / 0-) Recommended by: Rebecca, JeffSCinNY, joanneleon
would be an even better choice. Tondee's Tavern, for example. Link's in my blogroll, if you're interested, diarist...

These folks, who claim to be appalled by all of this corruption around them, passed on actually doing anything about corruption put right in front of them. It was pretty clear that they like to chat back and forth about all of the supposed corruption they see but can't do anything about, rather than trying to tackle any corruption in front of them. Keep in mind that Jones is running for the Democratic nomination of the U.S. Senate. Despite proclaiming how large and powerful they are whenever they think it matters, they are now suddenly powerless to this corruption. Not only did I, not Jones and his corruption, become the issue, but they frankly had no motivation to actually challenge any of the corruption that many of them ceded he has caused. While they found nearly endless energy to attack me, they had none left for a real bad guy, Vernon Jones.

Of course, what happened vis a vis this piece was nothing to what happened when I published this piece that is a detailed summary of the corruption at Grady Hospital, Emory University and beyond. The first few comments were fine, however since much of my piece linked to my own blog, soon enough people noticed they were reading a conservative. Here are some of the comments that followed.

This is being cross posted with permission of Mike Volpe of Proprietor Nation
A quick look at the blogroll of PN gives us: RedState, Powerline, Michelle Malkin, LGF, Hot Air, Captain's Quarters, etc., etc. Judging by your comment about the radio show, I'm assuming you are "snooper." The top story on your personal blog is "The Leftinistra Brainwashing Our Youth." That blog's tagline currently reads: Dedicated to the men and women of the United States Military fighting the Islamic Menace that our government has wrongly mistaken as a peaceful religion. Call me cynical, but these things make me question your motives for posting here, as well as your read on the situation with Grady Hospital, given your inherent bias.

...


You have destroyed any credibility you might have here at dKos by the sources you've used in this diary. Your entire theory hinges on the ravings of a far-right loon and the company he keeps, yet you claim that to be "irrelevant."You despise Vernon Jones; we get it. GA Kossacks despise him, as well, so you're not likely to make any new converts. No one outside GA has the time to care. There's a primary or two coming up in the next few weeks, if you hadn't heard.How will that make the Democratic party look? Please. Concern troll much?

...

Here are Mike Volpe's "recommended blogs" (3+
/ 0-)
Recommended by:
joanneleon, sbdenmon, irishwitch
Volokh
Conspiracy
Varifrank
Tygrrrr Express
Twin Cities Conservative
The Mortgage Reports
The Minority Report
Take Our Country Back
Simon Power
Red State
Powerline Blog
No Hillary Clinton
Michelle Malkin
Michael Yon
Michael Totten
Little Green Footballs
Iraq the Model
IMAO
Hot Air
Hinz Sight Report
Gerry Charlotte Phelps
Faultline USA
Draft General Pace
Deborah Lipstadt
David Frum
Daniel Pipes
Captains Quarters
Austin Bay

Side note: There is a lot of room for abuse when inner city hospitals are used as teaching hospitals for universities -- that particular symbiotic relationship is a very tricky one. At the same time, this write-up is at least 75% innuendo. It reads to me like Emory is the presumptive "bad guy," when in actuality the problem is lack of oversight in hospital administration. So, no, poor medical care for the indigent is not a partisan issue, but the way this is written up sure seems to have a David Horowitz ring to it. I think you could re-assemble these facts without that central assumption and have a piece that would get a better reception.

Here is my personal favorite...

And libelous bulls$%t at that.They've got a good law school, too. You might invest in an alumni directory, unless Michael Horowitz has already lined up an attorney for you.

So, does everyone understand? I am wrong because I am a Conservative, and Emory can't be corrupt because they have a good law school. As Kevin Kuritzky pointed out to me long ago, this is not a partisan issue, it is an issue of corruption. The irony is that almost all of the allies I have gotten on this story are themselves Democrats. The worst part was that I was arguing with people who had never heard of this story before. They proceeded to think that they knew more than me and they were confident in their thoughts because I was linked to a Conservative. (at this point they still assumed that theprovacateur and Mike Volpe were two different people) For instance, I got this comment...

Yes, I read the piece. Mike Volpe alleges four professors were "paid off" -- but only gives information about one. The link shows that Dr. Murtaugh's lawsuit centers on not getting a promotion, and he get a settlement. He also alleged medicare fraud. But to say that the settlement was a payoff to silence him about the medicare fraud is a gross oversimplification.I conceded that there was probably some wrongdoing by Emory. But you completely ignored my point that this piece is fundamentally dishonest because of its anti-Emory framing -- it seems like very few of the issues are actually Emory's fault. They get paid 50 million because they staff the hospital and inner city hospitals don't staff
themselves. By doing so, you are conceding the innuendo argument.

I'm assuming that you're repeating this and are being used, and are not a troll yourself. Think of our reaction this way: suppose a diary comes up that focuses on an important misuse of CIA intelligence that led to the Iraq War, but frames it as being the fault of Senator Rockefeller because he was on the Intelligence Committee. You and I can agree on the importance of the problem, but find the framing dishonest. That's what we're saying here, and I'm not criticizing you, just trying to get you to see that supporting the recognition of the problem doesn't mean uncritically accepting everything in a diary about the problem...

This poster is referring to four doctors that I said were paid off. They say that I have no evidence because I have little to say about any of them besides one, Dr. Jim Murtaugh, and this poster seems to find this as evidence of my shotty reporting. Keep in mind they were paid off and silenced, and so by nature there will be little evidence of the specifics of each case. The only reason that Murtaugh's case came up is that State Senator David Shafer lead a Congressional delegation to unseal the settlement. Furthermore, someone at Kos laughably claims that my piece is dishonest because I take a preconceived bias. First, I do. I am certainly biased against the administration. This comes after two months of research in which I have concluded that they pilfer Grady Hospital, land a sweetheart deal at the tax payer's expense, and pay off or expel anyone that gets in their way. (they will even make articles disappear from internet archives if it is discovered those will make them look bad) Of course, what is laughable is the Kos claiming that an arguement is flawed if it is biased. If that is the case, they have condemned each of their own diaries.

What was really insulting is that I have no doubt that almost no one I was arguing with had even heard of Grady Hospital before I pointed it out to them. The only reason this became confrontational is because they thought that a Conservative had provided the sourcing. At this point, I have spoken with so many insiders on so many angles of this scandal that the only people that know more about it are the insiders themselves. I have traced tentacles to the Dekalb Police Department, the WellCare Scandal, and I am now working on connections to real estate developers and possibly even the Dixie Mafia. I bring this up not to toot my own horn but so that everyone understands how well I understand this story. For someone to challenge me without knowing much of anything is simply insulting.

Of course, the lunacy is not exclusive to the left of the blogosphere. I got into a verbal joust with some commenters on the Georgia blog, Peach Pundit. There were mostly Republicans and Georgia residents and so their problem with me was entirely different. Here are some examples of the comments...

Fascinating that you are so connected and interested while living in Illinois. And as far as Derwin Brown. He was my sheriff and a good man. His death was heinous. So is your ridiculous attempt to tie it into this mess.

...


It isn’t “going private” at all. Just being restructured as a non-profit, likely with state funds being provided. And given the way the laws work down here regarding following state money, I doubt it will be “impossible” to follow the money. Interesting that you throw around the term private since from the beginning that’s been a codeword for many of the anti task force activists down here.But what do I know? It’s not like I ever talk to anyone involved.

...

Oh thank the good Lord above we gots somebody smart to show us the way. Not
one of us ignorant hicks have ever questioned why some many consulting firms
were hired. Not one of us have questioned the mismanagement of Grady. Lord bless
us all that we now have this fine man to show us the way. To lead us out of the
wildereness where we are all a party to such sin.

...

Oh I don’t know, Jace. Maybe the repetitive condescension that we don’t know what’s going on. Repeatedly ignoring the fact that some have raised many of the same questions. Conspiratorially tying the Derwin Brown murder to corruption of Grady. Transitively tying any questioning of his theories into sheeplike acquiesence to being rolled by the Devil. Continually making Charles Walker’s conviction about Grady when mostly it was not. And even when us ignorant hicks refute points fall right back to saying we don’t know what we are talking about.It could be that unless we see through the God-given clear lens of Mike Volpe, we just don’t know what the hell we are talking about.Nah. It’s none of that.

In this case, it came down to tone and territory. I was too confrontational and condescending, and of course I wasn't from Georgia. I got only one defender on the site...

Why does everyone seem out to get this “mike volpe” guy? He is raising some interesting points

There are several things here. First, as I later pointed out, Derwin Brown was never sheriff because he was murdered (by the outgoing sheriff and a conspiracy of deputies and others in the police department) so the initial statement is not only condescending but factually wrong.

Second, the death of Derwin Brown and the corruption at Grady can be tied to one man, Vernon Jones, who was connected to both. (He is still currently the CEO of Dekalb County and not only overlooks the DEKALB POLICE DEPARTMENT, which Brown was elected sheriff of, but he also picks the board at Grady Hospital) Whether or not the corruption is linked directly together or not is up for debate, however I have no doubt that at minimum there is a culture of corruption that links all of it together.

Now, as for the reference to the new plan by the Grady Task Force, it is too in depth for an explanation here, so if you want to know my thoughts, please read my piece on it. (also, I welcome you to read the recommendations that me and my allies have come up with for Grady Hospital)

Also, they claim that most of the corruption committed by State Senator Charles Walker wasn't at Grady Hospital. While this is true, Walker's crime was expansive and not very picky, most of the evidence of his corruption came from whistleblower Joyce Harris, who was the head of H.R. at Grady Hospital.

Their points finally turned from factually wrong to absurd with this comment...

Is it possible that the convictions were tagged on solely to Walker because folks were out to get him? I’m not saying he didn’t do wrong - believe me, as an Augusta native, he did a lot of things wrong and deserved punishment - but he also had a lot of guys gunning for him, particularly a lot of folks in Augusta.

Could it be that the focus was to get Walker and not to investigate Grady? And that getting Walker meant piling up the felony charges?

Here is how I refuted it...

If they were “out to get him”, why did he get ten years for 127 felonies or less than a month per felony. Folks weren’t “out to get him”. Folks were out to keep his affair as quiet as they could. If the chief prosecution witness fingers everyone, then why isn’t anyone else investigated?If Walker committed so much crime that it lead to 127 felony convictions, and people were on the level, they would want to follow it further and see if the hospital involved had systemic corruption in and that lead to his crimes? That is, if people were on the level.

My point was never disputed and ultimately nothing I said in any of the debate was proven inaccurate. (something I can't say for those that I argued with)

I bring up these factual points to once again point out that I was arguing with people that were frankly a lot less knowledgeable. Once again, rather than focusing on the merits of the corruption and finding ways to connect through the power of the internet, these commenters made me the story.

The facts were no less important to these Georgia Republicans than they were to Kos liberals.
I was combative and an outsider, they immediately assumed I was wrong. They never had their facts straight, but that didn't stop them from arguing. Ultimately, rooting out the corruption in their own state wasn't the important thing. What was important was "beating" so to speak an outsider that they felt was demeaning their state.

In both cases, an opportunity was lost for people to band together to take on bad folks. Instead, it turned into the twenty first century technological version of a school yard arguement. Rather than focusing on the real bad guys, the ones perpetrating the corruption at Grady, Emory and beyond, they focused on me. I went out searching for allies in a story that not only needs to be told, but found the worst of human nature in folks from both sides of the aisle.

UPDATE:

I realize that anyone that picks up this story somewhere in the middle may get quite confused. For instance, if you happen to read this particular piece but you aren't familiar with the goings on at Grady, you will likely get lost in this particular story. Thus, I have put together a summary of the entire fiasco that tries to put all of its moving parts together in one piece. Please read it for guidance. Also, please check out the recommendations that I and my colleagues have put together for fixing Grady Hospital.

JCAHO Threatens to Shut Down Grady Hospital

The Atlanta Journal Constitution (which I believe to be a suspect news organization) broke this this morning...

As if things weren't bad enough for the financially strapped Grady Health System, now the hospital faces a list of criticisms, including issues with patient care, that put its national accreditation at risk.

In a five-day inspection last week, the Joint Commission —- formerly the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations —- identified "numerous
requirements for improvement," according to a statement issued by Grady on Monday. Hospital officials gave no details about the kinds of shortcomings inspectors found.

Dr. Christopher Edwards, vice chairman of the Grady board, said the report cited "opportunities for improvement in various areas, including patient care."

Anyone who has been reading my work, knows that the tone of this article is wrong. It is frankly long past time that the powers that be, be held responsible for the mess at Grady. Keep in mind that about three years ago, the HHS conducted an investigation that concluded this about the patients at Grady Hospital...

there is an immediate and serious risk to the health and safety of the patients

Obviously, it can't get any worse than that for a hospital. Now, three years later the hospital needs an injection of half a billion dollars to stay solvent. Before that, Grady Hospital was convicted of Medicare fraud. State Senator Charles Walker committed so much criminality at Grady and beyond that he was ultimately convicted of 127 felonies. I am fond of the Latin phrase Res Ipsa Loquitur (the facts speak for themselves), and in the case of Grady Hospital, Res Ipsa Loquitur.

One only needs to do a Google search to discover that there are serious and systemic problems at Grady Hospital that frankly, in my opinion, warranted intervention from authorities long ago. Given the current crisis and latest report from JCOHA, it is clear that proper steps weren't taken in response to the report from HHS about three years ago. I hope that this latest episode winds up with a different result.

Here is the so called inside baseball on how this transpired. Much of the credit should end up going to Ron Marshall of the Grady Coalition. He sent letters for years to JCAHO complaining about stonewalling on the part of Grady staff as far as open records requests and in answering their many questions on a whole host of issues related to corruption, poor patient care, and effective hospital management. Here is an example of an email that he sent that I got a hold of...

Mr. Bressler,>> YOU often appear not to have the evidence we have presented to you> over the years. We hope you have protected all documents we have sent> to you from spoilage.>> NATIONAL WITNESSES: THE GRADY SYSTEM HAS FAILED> Because of the severe suffering at Grady, we cannot rest until JCAHO> violations are stopped. We are bringing on board new witnesses.

Dr.> Linda Peeno, formerly a top executive at Humana, has analyzed the> situation and finds that this is a breakdown of the medical system.> Peer review is an essential part of the system to protect patients.> Bad faith peer review effects the medical judgements of all doctors> in the system, and leads to systematic poor medical care. Testimony> demonstrates it is impossible to deliver minimal standard care when> peer review has been subverted.>> CONGRESSIONAL ALLIES> We will be meeting with Congressional allies next week, and we will> be holding a press conference. We hope we receive a statement from> you by noon, Tuesday that you will implement a plan to enforce JCAHO> regulations at Grady.>>

GOOD FAITH PEER REVIEW IS ESSENTIAL TO THE INTEGRITY OF THE SYSTEM> I know you do not want to enforce peer review standards. However, I> don't see how you can enforce any standard if bad-faith peer review> is being used to hide malfeasance at the hospital. Peer review is> part of a system to protect patient care. If peer review is> subverted, doctors and staff are unable to speak up for patients and> to enforce patient care standards. The whole system is stood on its> ear. I hope you will reconsider your position and enforce JCAHO's own> standards. Grady has violated each of the provisions you outlined in> your last letter.>> BAD FAITH PEER REVIEW HAS BEEN CORRUPTING THE MEDICAL SYSTEM FOR DECADES> This has been a horrible problem for years.

Verner Waite wrote to you> about widespread violations in peer review leading to patient harm> ten years ago, and you did not respond. It is our position that you> must enforce all standards, especially peer review standards, that> impact patient care. This is at the core of your function.>> BAD FAITH PEER REVIEW IS CORRUPTING POLITICS IN GEORGIA> We have presented extensive evidence, including evidence from an> assistant DA, that the huge amounts of money stolen from Grady has> perniciously influenced Georgia politics. The 142 felony count indictment against Senator Walker was based in large part of his corruption of Georgia's hospitals by corrupting its peer review system. Bad faith peer review is a cancer on the body politic of the> entire state. Bad faith peer review can only be
stopped by JCAHO.> JCAHOs failure to enforce its standards is harming the entire state.

HOWEVER, EVEN IF YOU WILL NOT ENFORCE YOUR OWN STANDARDS, PLEASE AT>LEAST MAKE GRADY CORRECT DEFICIENCIES IT HAS ADMITTED IN MORE THAN THIRTEEN AREAS. GRADY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT HOSPITAL IN THE SOUTHEAST THAT SERVES> MINORITY PATIENTS. PLEASE TELL US IF YOU WILL ENFORCE YOUR STANDARDS> AT GRADY.>> 1. For your convenience, we have created a database showing how> violations in JCAHO policy at Grady have resulted in severe patient harm over the last five years: http://www.geocities.com/ron_marshall21/

2. We also document how Grady has retaltiated against witnesses to> prevent you from getting evidence: http://www.geocities.com/ron_marshall21/

3. We summarize severe corruption and its impact on patients:


4. We summarize witnesses available and ethics violations:

5. Current staff document new retaliations, and JCAHO violations. The staff fear to
speak to you.

6. Patient care is greatly compromised.THE HARMS TO GRADY'S PATIENTS ARE STAGGERING. PLEASE RULE ON OUR> COMPLAINT IMMEDIATELY.> A BLUE RIBBON COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE UNETHICAL PRACTICES IS NEEDED NOW.> ROBERT BROWN AND PAUL HOWARD MUST RESIGN.>> Thank you. We know this is a lot of information, but all of it has> been sent to you
previously. This is but a portion of the documents> already in your possession.>> Ron Marshall> George Anderson> The New Grady Coalition

While many of the names are probably unfamiliar, please note this particular email is one of many over several years. Clearly, Grady refused to respond to good faith efforts to address issues that years later JCAHO has finally gotten around to forcing them to address.

I hope that everyone grabs the bull by the horn in this situation and takes steps to institute the sorts of institutional changes that are necessary to rid Grady of the culture of corruption that seems so apparent to me. Here is the plan as set by the Grady Task Force. If anyone can make sense of it, let me know because I can't. Here is the plan me and my allies have developed. I hope that everyone has a chance to read it. The time for Grady Hospital is critical, and it is time for real solutions.

For reference on how Grady Hospital got to such an extreme point you can go to this tag, or you can read this summary.

My Recommendations For Fixing Grady Hospital

Introduction: If you haven't been following the plight of Grady Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, here is a quick run down. Grady is one of the biggest hospitals not only in the Southeast but frankly in the entire country and the world. It has also been the scene to a great deal of corruption throughout the years. It has faced a series of financial crises throughout the years, however none are as critical as its current. Grady Hospital faces being closed down unless it is infused with cash to the tune of an estimated half a billion dollars according to some reports. Since Grady Hospital is the main hospital for the poor of Dekalb, Fulton and other area counties, this has become the subject of great debate and controversy. Because hospitals that cater to poor folks have limited profit potential, Grady is also naturally a public hospital. Thus, in the end, the taxpayers own it.

Enter the Grady Task Force which is a sort of consulting firm created by the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce which has recommended a series of steps to save Grady. If you look at the link, you will see that for the most part the report is quite technical, however there is one recommendation which has become quite controversial. That is a plan to make the board quasi private. It should also be noted that Grady has paid four separate consulting firms about eight digits just in the last two to three years already. They have already hired another consulting firm even after the so called recommendations of the Grady Task Force.

I believe this plan, like the force itself, is nothing more than a sham and I wanted to offer my own alternative plan.

I want to point out that almost none of the ideas are actually my own, but rather those of folks that I have spoken with since I began tracking this story nearly two months ago. None of these folks ever saw any power at Grady, and I believe that after you read my plan you will see that there is no doubt that the wrong people are in charge. You will also see what it would actually take to turn Grady around.



The first thing Grady Hospital needs is some serious improvements in its infrastructure. For instance, its HVAC system is totally shot. Doctors have told me that sometimes it gets so bad at Grady that they themselves can't breathe. Now, imagine if you are a patient that has a breathing problem, what would such a state do to you. There is asbestos in the wall. The elevators are old and they breakdown all the time. There are patients that are in critical condition and time is of the essence. If they need to be moved from floor to floor, you simply cannot have the elevators broken. Doctors tell that this can be a regular occurrence. The computer system for tracking their medical records is old, from the seventies people tell me. Many times patients history can't easily be looked up, and thus allergies and other ailments may not be known. The building simply must be brought up to code.

If this is shocking to you, and you think this couldn't happen because the patients would talk, keep in mind the patients are the poorest folks in the area. They simply have no alternative and many times they don't know any better.

One of the tragedies at Grady is that they recently had a giant addition added. That's right, while their infrastructure was falling apart they added a huge addition about five years ago. If you want to know why, you maybe interested in knowing that powerful board member Robert Brown also owns an architecture firm and while the firm is equipped to add on to hospitals they can't fix elevators. (He is also a prominent member of the Grady Task Force and one main reason why the force is in my opinion a total sham)

Grady also needs to be held accountable, so money will be given in tiers. The state legislature will choose a committee to oversee upgrades in infrastructure, and money will only be given if standards are met.

The Grady Board, currently chosen by the Dekalb County CEO (currently Vernon Jones), needs to be elected and it must be split up by districts so that it evenly represents the folks currently treated by Grady Hospital. This board, which would serve four year terms, would be in charge of hiring and firing the Grady CEO.

Instead of paying Emory University and Morehouse (the two schools that supply the bulk of Grady staff) a flat fee for their services, the Grady Board would institute a tiered sort of grading system (based on JCOHA grades, patient feedback and whatever other measurements they chose). Keep in mind that as representatives of the people, the board would be giving Emory and Morehouse the people's money. This means they would be more inclined to grade the two schools harsher than softer. This would give the two schools that much more incentive to perform better.

Also, the two schools would be responsible for their own malpractice insurance. Unbelievably, at least at Emory, Grady pays for the malpractice insurance of Emory professors and medical students. Essentially, this means that Emory, a private institution, has it so the public, through a public hospital, covers its malpractice insurance. Not only is this an obscene misuse of public funds, but obviously can lead to all sorts of abuse. Obviously, if you aren't responsible for your own malpractice insurance, you are more likely to act a lot more recklessly. I believe that is exactly what Emory has done to tragic results. This will remove that motivation.

The state legislature would set up a committee that would be in charge of funding Grady. They would set their own set of benchmarks for receiving funding and would also be in charge of deciding how much Grady Hospital got. Since the legislators are also spending the people's, or their constituents, money, they would also be disinclined to grade easily. This would give the board more motivation to make sure performance is up to par. We saw just how tragic it could be in the case of State Senator Charles Walker when funds are determined by corrupt reasons rather than performance.

Grady would develop a new position called the Office of Conflict Interest. Each transaction, each finance, each so called deal, would be scoured by this office to make sure that say a board member's architecture firm isn't getting the deal because the owner is on the board. I believe there are many such deals like the one I refer to with Robert Brown and the addition his company got, and that can't happen. This hospital didn't just find itself in financial crisis for no reason. It got there because its financial dealings were corrupted. This office would be in charge of making sure every deal was on the level.

Grady would need to update its by laws. First, it would no longer be allowed to have retaliatory behavior against whistleblowers. People must be able to report malfeasance without the threat of losing their job. Joyce Harris lost her job when she blew the whistle on State Senator Charles Walker. I also firmly believe that Kevin Kuritzky was expelled for blowing the whistle on serious corruption as well. These are jus two examples and I believe there are many more. There needs to be a truly anonymous tip line so that malfeasance can be reported without threat of retaliation.

Grady Hospital can no longer be allowed to stall in providing financial records to outside sources. I have been told by more than one person that getting records can be maddeningly time consuming. In fact, I was told that by the time records were received the incident or incidents in question were so far in the past that most didn't care. For instance, it took my sources several years to finally figure out that Brown's company received the lucrative contract. Grady Hospital would now be the subject of stiff fines if records aren't turned over in a timely manner. Furthermore, an outside party, a judge or a lawyer, would act as a mediator, in disputes over records requests. Finally, the by laws would declare that Grady would from now on follow due process.

Grady Hospital would no longer be allowed to settle any lawsuits under seal. I have counted four Emory professors that I believe have been paid off. The case of Dr. Jim Murtaugh is the only one that has been unsealed so far and it provides a glimpse into just how far some will go to keep malfeasance quiet. This can't go on, and it will have to be outlawed.

From now on, meetings held on the finances of Grady Hospital would be open to the public and the media. Currently, those meetings, like many others, are held in secret. Secrecy is a bedrock of corruption. By turning Grady over to a private board, it would make it even easier to maintain secrecy, and it is this diarists contention that secrecy is the end goal of the private board plan. In order to fix Grady, we need the opposite of secrecy. We need everything to be open. Keep in mind that Grady is a public hospital. It uses public funds. The public has every right to know where those funds are going. Open finance meetings are one way to assure that.

With these recommendations Grady would actually have a chance to thrive long term. While I am sure there will be those that will poke holes in it, I would dare anyone to compare my plan, less than two pages, to the plan by the Grady Task Force.

The Fox Guarding the Hen House

This is the final report filed by the Grady Task Force. Let me sum up for anyone that doesn't want to bother to click the link. This is a report that is about thirty pages that is full technical jargon that almost no one can understand.

So, what is the Grady Task Force and why should anyone care? If you have been following my work, you know that Grady Hospital has been in financial turmoil for years and it has now come to a head. Grady Hospital is one of the biggest hospitals, one of the biggest public hospitals, and one of the biggest hospitals for the indigent in the country. It needs a huge infusion of tax payer funds, up to nine digits, or it will close down.

The Grady Task Force is a sort of consulting group, created by the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, designed to make recommendations to "fix" Grady Hospital. The very fact that Grady Hospital needs this sort of consulting group is curious in and of itself.

This past spring Grady fired Alvarez and Marsals, a professional consulting firm it hired to recommend ways in which it could avert financial ruin. That was only after paying the firm a cool 300K plus, PER MONTH, and over 3 million dollars total. Consulting firms are nothing new for Grady Hospital. Frankly, Grady Hospital goes through consulting firms the way that Liz Taylor goes through husbands. They pay each of them handsomely and they are even thinking of hiring yet another despite having a "consulting firm" hand picked for them by the Chamber.

One would think that after spending roughly eight digits on consulting firm in about two years, Grady would finally figure out WHAT THE F$%K IS WRONG. That is if these consulting firms are being hired for their advice rather than other reasons. For instance, would it surprise anyone to learn that the principles of Alvarez and Marsals have close ties to Grady board member Michael Hollis? Would it surprise anyone to learn that all of the prior consulting firms were in one way or another hired for some reason other than their professional qualifications? It wouldn't surprise me, and my proof is in these Latin words, res ipsa loquitor. The facts speak for themselves, and the facts are that at least four consulting firms have produced a hospital on the brink of financial ruin. Again, Grady paid about ten million dollars for all of this consulting. If these relationships were on the level, this money would have produced something better than what we have.

Now, we have the Grady Task Force, an unpaid consulting firm. When, we examine the facts, I think that we will see that the Task Force has other financial considerations in Grady Hospital. The bulk of the members are community and business leaders and that gives the force a sort of rep. They are also individuals and entities with financial and professional interest in Grady, which makes me wonder if their advice is on the level.

For instance, there is Robert Brown. He is the former head of the Grady Board. He served on the board during a period in which Grady was convicted of Medicare fraud, State Senator Charles Walker was convicted of 127 felonies, many related to Grady, and an HHS report came out and concluded this,

there is a serious and immediate threat to the health and safety of the patients

Does it sound to anyone as though he has any business being on the board given his history of failure at Grady, and possibly obscene amounts of corruption. Did I mention that Robert Brown is also of RL Brown and Associates, an architecture firm? Would it surprise anyone if his own architecture firm was the recipient of several "sweetheart deals" for additions and upgrades to Grady during his tenure? The list is full of such names: Michael Johns, of Emory University, Michael B. Russell of H.J. Russell (also a recepient of several contracts), John E. Maupin, MD – ex-officio President & CEO Morehouse School of Medicine (another proprietor of Grady Hospital), Phil Humann CEO SunTrust Banks, Inc.(with significant financial ties to Emory University but who doesn't in Atlanta), etc. One would think that if a hospital is near financial ruin the last people that would be in charge of recommendations to fix it would be those who put it there in the first place. Not with Grady, in this case the very same people that were responsible for putting Grady in this position are now in charge of fixing it. That is why I call this piece: The Fox Guarding the Hen House.

Like I said earlier, most of the recommendations are quite technical and difficult for the layman to understand. One has caught my eye and it is a plan to make Grady Hospital run by a private corporation. Under this plan, Grady would still receive public funds so the only practical effect would be more secrecy when it came to public fund usage. Given Grady's history with corruption: State Senator Charles Walker, the Medicare fraud, so called double dipping and atrocious patient care, and all sorts of other unproven cases of malfeasance. Is going private and more secretive really the best way to "save Grady". It probably isn't however if I were looking to commit more corruption at Grady, I would certainly want to make it private.

I would love to hear what possible public benefit Grady going private would have. There appears to be none to me, though there is an obvious one if you wanted to commit more corruption. There is a vote coming soon in the Georgia legislature. My own read is that the folks of Georgia don't want the hospital to go private. There appears to be no public good in it. Thus, I can only see one reason for any politician to vote for that plan and by my estimation that vote disqualifies said politician from serving again.

Oh and finally, you want to add insult to injury. After Grady is done listening to the consulting recommendations of the unpaid Grady Task Force, they plan on hiring another paid consulting firm. Frankly, if the Grady Task Force is on the level one would think there would no longer be need for anymore consulting firm. If, that is, the Grady Task Force is on the level.

UPDATE:

While I tried to make this piece as comprehensive as possible, if this is your first exposure to the story behind the crisis at Grady Hospital you may very well be quite confused. Thus, I have put together a summary of the entire fiasco that tries to put all of its moving parts together in one piece. Please read it for guidance. Also, please check out the recommendations that I and my colleagues have put together for fixing Grady Hospital.

Kent Alexander: Power Broker (UPDATED)

There is a name that lurks behind the scenes in much of the scandal and corruption associated with Emory University and Grady Hospital and that person's name is Kent Alexander. It should be noted that there is little or no evidence ties Alexander to any wrongdoing on his own part. What is peculiar is how often he finds himself in the middle of scandal at Grady, Emory and beyond.

Kent Alexander first burst on the scene as the son of legendary Atlanta area attorney Miles Alexander. His first brush with fame came in the mysterious case of money laundering by BNL Savings, an Italian government run bank, to the government of Iraq on the eve of the first gulf war. The case is detailed in depth in the book, The Shell Game by Peter Mantius. At the time, Alexander was assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. He was the lead attorney for the U.S. on the case. At the time, King and Spaulding, arguably the most powerful and prestigious law firm in Atlanta, represented BNL. According to The Shell Game, Alexander met with an MI6 agent who told him of obscene amounts of corruption. The agent implicated the entire structure of the bank, and they claimed that for political reasons the intelligence apparatus of Italy, the U.S. and Britain looked the other way. The book claimed that the agent provided documentation of all the assertions.

For whatever reason, according to the book, Alexander left the meeting and decided to pin the entire scandal on the bank manager Christopher Drogoul who was in his twenties at the time. Drogoul was prosecuted and eventually convicted and upon his conviction the entire case was closed. This of course made the clients of King and Spaulding happy as well as the rest of the bank was spared prosecution. This was of course curious because of the sheer size and frequency of the crimes. This case also has some troubling parallels to another case I have referenced, State Senator Charles Walker. More than a decade later, while Alexander was now Emory General Counsel, State Senator Charles Walker was convicted of 127 felonies. He was the only one convicted and that case was also wrapped up after his conviction. Of course, it should be noted again that despite not flipping on anyone Walker received the outrageously light sentence of ten years for 127 felonies.

On the strength of the Drogoul along with other good deeds, Alexander was eventually promoted to U.S. Attorney a couple years later. (for reference this is the equivalent of posts once held by both Rudy Giuliani and Elliot Spitzer in their own districts) In the summer of 1996 Atlanta held the Olympics. The sad and ultimately tragic case of Richard Jewell is well documented and it doesn't need to be repeated. While the media has portrayed his role in the affair in a variety of ways, (he meaning Alexander himself) the facts stand out to me at least. He was the lead prosecutor. Jewell was under suspicion for almost ninety days and everyone agrees that ultimately there was absolutely no solid evidence against him.

About a year later, Alexander resigned from the U.S. Attorney's office. He landed on his feet with a cushy position with King and Spaulding. That would be the same King and Spaulding that was the fortuitous recepient of Alexander's narrow investigation of BNL. King and Spaulding is also the firm on retainer for one Emory University.

Alexander moved over to lead general counsel at Emory University in 2000. The two met each other at a fortuitous time because Grady, the hospital Emory helped run, was under investigation by the National Institute of Health. That investigation ultimately lead nowhere however four people that I have found were silenced with regards to the investigation: Dr. Sam Newcom, Dr. Jim Murtaugh, Dr. Diane Owens, and Dr. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld. Dr. Jim Murtaugh's case has recently had some new developments. Here is what State Senator David Shafer was able to recently discover.

Former Grady trustee Bill Loughrey tells me that the settlement with Dr. Murtagh was never approved or even accurately described to Grady’s board of trustees. He says that he was stunned to learn that tax dollars were paid to Dr. Murtagh, conditioned on his silence. He thinks the agreement is invalid and that the judicial process has been misused.

Let me explain for everyone. Dr. Jim Murtaugh settled with Emory University and Grady Hospital right around the time that this investigation was going on. He settled for roughly 1.6 million dollars and each side was under total communication lockdown. In fact, the lockdown was so extreme that even if either side was subpoened the court would need to be notified and there was time available for the subpoena to be quashed. This is of course important because it is very likely that Murtaugh had information relevant to the NIH investigation and this agreement allowed Grady and Emory stop Murtaugh from testifying. Furthermore, as lead counsel Alexander would be in control of the negotiations for his employer. He was in so much control that it is his signature next to Murtaugh's in the ultimate agreement.

Now, what Shafer is saying is that the board of trustees at Grady were never notified of the settlement. This is important because Grady is a public hospital and thus their portion of the settlement would then be tax payer money. As lead counsel, Alexander would be responsible for every bit of the agreement.

By 2004, Grady was again in the middle of another scandal. This one involved State Senator Charles Walker. Again, despite being convicted of 127 separate felonies, Walker was the only one charged and convicted in the case. Not only is it logical to think that it is impossible to commit this much crime on your own, one only needed to be in the courtroom hear of other's involvement. The lead prosecution witness, Joyce Harris, accused much of the higher ups at Grady of all sorts of wrong doing: from witness tampering, intimidation, and kickbacks. Despite it not only making no sense that one person could commit so much crime on their own, and having the star witness accuse others, somehow the powers that be wrapped up their investigation by only convicting Walker himself, and he got only ten years for all those counts.

Now, you might be saying well that's Grady and Alexander was employed by Emory. That is true however the entire Grady staff was Emory faculty and most of the Grady upper level management was also employed by Emory. Thus, while they may seem to be two separate entities to some they are in reality quite interlocked.

Alexander then resurfaces in the case of whistleblower, Kevin Kuritzky. Kuritzky was expelled several months after another investigation of Grady was completed. This one was done by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the Department Health and Human Services. The conclusion of that report was scathing.

an immediate and serious threat to the health and safety of the patients

is what HHS concluded. Emory maintained that Kuritzky was expelled for missing required clerkship training involving patient care, lying to his professors, and engaging in other unprofessional, dishonest and unethical conduct, while Kuritzky maintains that it was retaliation for blowing the whistle on many of the same type of practices mentioned in the report. While Emory outwardly maintains even today that his expulsion had nothing to do with any incendiary charges on his part, I have found an email from Alexander to the then assistant U.S. Attorney that indicates otherwise.

Amy (Amy Kamenshien then Assitant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia) as you know we have had several discussions in the past regarding Dr. Murtaugh and his allegations regarding Emory/Grady. Recently he has had contact with former medical student Kevin Kuritzky. You may in the near future be hearing from Kuritzky or his attorneys and I would advise not pursuing it further. Hope all are keeping well,

Kent.

Clearly, Alexander expected that Kuritzky was going to say something and he moved to pre empt the investigation. Kuritzky ultimately ended up pursuing his case civilly and that is still pending.

Alexander had one more run in with Kuritzy of note. According to Kuritzky just as the legal process for his civil case was starting, (Before any formal paperwork was even filed) Alexander arranged a meeting between Kuritzky, his attorneys and Emory attorneys, headed up by Alexander of course, and finally a mediator. According to Kuritzky, at this meeting Alexander addressed Kuritzky in this manner,

if you pursue this further, we will smear you so badly that even North Korea won't touch you

According to Kuritzky this was said in front of his attorneys and the mediator who went to the third grade step of calling a timeout in its aftermath. The parties were separated into two different rooms so that everyone could cool down, however Alexander wasn't formally reprimanded for this statement.

The last notable moment in Alexander's tenure came last month when he responded to an Atlanta Journal Constitution editorial regarding unsealing the records of the Dr. Jim Murtaugh case. ( those records have been unsealed and of course I even referenced them earlier)

The AJC's Oct. 5 editorial "Come clean on lawsuit" resurrects (and misstates) old charges of conspiring to misuse government funds, charges the government reviewed seven years ago and declined to pursue. This has the devastating effect of casting public suspicion on two entities —- Grady Memorial Hospital and Emory University —- that are working together in an increasingly challenging environment to meet the health needs of the most vulnerable members of our society.

The editorial surprisingly calls on Emory and Grady to open the sealed settlement and court records in a case involving Dr. James Murtagh. For the record, Emory and Grady did not move to seal the record; Murtagh did. Emory had already supported unsealing the proceedings —- the complete, entire record —- as had Grady. We simply awaited the doctor and court's approval. Judge Wendy Shoob has since unsealed the record, which is now of course fully open to the public. The real victim in all of this is Grady, the largest public health hospital in the Southeast. Grady is struggling to survive while misinformation circulates that, unintentionally or intentionally, diverts attention from the real issues.

This statement is absurd on its face (and I should note never countered by the AJC). Murtaugh was paid a huge sum of money (1.6 million dollars) and then told to shut up. That is hush money. It is unlikely that he would be the one that would try and keep those records sealed. It was after all Emory and Grady that paid him not the other way around. They paid him and he was silenced. You do the math. Second, since he was silenced, making this bold face lie is easy since they know he is under order to remain quiet no matter what. Finally, while he was paid the money both parties agreed to a total media blackout. Again, I may not be an attorney however it appears to me that Alexander just violated the terms of the very agreement he helped broker.

The case of Kent Alexander is much like everything about Emory and Grady. There are more questions than answers. Did Alexander receive his cushy position from King and Spaulding as a result of his favorable prosecution in the BNL case? Did he use his influence to squash the NIH and Walker investigations? Did he knowingly violate the policy of the Grady Trustees when he entered into an agreement with Dr. Jim Murtaugh? Did he try to intimidate Kevin Kuritzky?

Only the powers that be know the answers to these questions, however I do know that Grady Hospital may collapse. I know that there needs to be a huge infusion of cash in order for it to survive, and it appears to me that the same people that put it into this position continue to call the shots. I know that if I were a tax payer that was ultimately flipping the bill I would want all of the questions I raised answered, under oath, by Alexander himself, before even one more dime went into Grady Hospital.

For further information on Kent Alexander and this scandal in its entirety, please follow this link to listen to my buddy Snooper discuss this matter further.

UPDATE:

For the most part, if you find your way to one of the stories regarding the Grady mess, you will likely get lost in its many mazes. I actually don't believe that this is one of them. I believe that this story speaks for itself, and no matter your incoming knowledge you should be able to follow. If not let me know. That said, you should also know how Alexander fits into the overall scheme of things. Thus, I have put together a summary of the entire fiasco that tries to put all of its moving parts together in one piece. Please read it for guidance. Also, please check out the recommendations that I and my colleagues have put together for fixing Grady Hospital.

What if John Gotti Headed Up the Task Force To Stop the Mafia

Robert Brown's tenure as head trustee for Grady Hospital is eventful for sure. Upon taking over in the mid 1990's the hospital faced a series of issues from budget problems, to corruption, to egregiously poor health care. In 1998, Grady Hospital settled with the state of Georgia for $4.5 million dollars in a suit of Medicare fraud. The investigation covered four years and several of those involved the tenure of Robert Brown. While the Attorney General found no criminal violations, the sheer number of the settlement speaks for itself. Had this been the only run in with the law that Grady had under his tenure, it frankly wouldn't be an issue. It wasn't though. The most egregious case of criminality came when State Senator Charles Walker was charged with 137 separate offenses and convicted of 127 of those counts. (unbelievably Walker, his daughter and the companies they ran were the only ones charged or convicted) Grady was one of a handful of hospitals that was the target of much of this criminality.

This criminality began in the late 1990's and lasted all the way until his indictment in 2002. As I have already pointed out, a source told me that the chief prosecution witness, Joyce Harris, accused Robert Brown of several incendiary crimes along with pointing a huge finger at Walker. Harris accused Brown of such things as witness intimidation and accepting sexual favors for contracts at Grady. Harris is not the only one to point the finger at Robert Brown as far as corruption goes. Here is what Ron Marshall of the Grady Coalition had to say about Robert Brown, (from an article emailed to me. I can't seem to locate it online)

It was Robert Brown who insisted that no-bid contracts be given to former Senator Charles Walker, who is now serving ten years in prison for 127 felonies, many of which were committed at Grady with Brown's knowledge.

Furthermore, I am holding onto a 223 page report filed with the Dekalb Ethics Committee that charged Robert Brown with among other things: quid pro quos, retaliation, kickbacks, and obstruction of justice.

Since corruption doesn't exist in a vacuum, Brown's tenure was often met with financial woes. While the current financial woes facing Grady are the most extreme they have ever been, this is not the first time Grady has faced financial turmoil. For instance, here is how things looked in 2001 for Grady.

Board members of the state's largest public hospital want to know how the struggling charity-care provider plans to dig itself out of deepening financial trouble.

Grady Memorial Hospital's 10-member board is scheduled to meet July 23 to, in part, review recent audit results showing the hospital suffered a $17.2 million loss last year and is now operating in the red.

"We were told [Grady] would have an $8 million shortfall this year and that [CEO Edward Renford] would come up with a proposal in July to fix it," said board member Bill Loughrey.

Grady leaders have remained tight-lipped about specific plans for a recovery, but a spokesperson for the hospital said discussions are under way and that any changes would be cleared through patients and employees of the hospital first.

In fact, the current plethora of editorials and analysis that can be found in any current Atlanta area newspaper have a familiar ring to them.

Finally, and most importantly, the Center Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of the Department of Health and Human Services did an exhaustive investigation of Grady Hospital that ended right around the time that Charles Walker trial ended. Here is the scathing conclusion of that investigation. (Again, I hold onto a hard copy myself though I cannot find it online) They identified...

an immediate and serious threat to the health and safety of the
patients

It was after this scathing report came out, that finally Robert Brown was forced out of his position at Grady. Not to worry, upon leaving Grady, Robert Brown was able to snag a lucrative position on the state's transportation board MARTA.

Now, let's get back to the unconventional title of my piece. In my opinion, if there things weren't rotten at Grady, Emory University, and Atlanta at large, along with investigating State Senator Charles Walker, the powers that be would have investigated Brown to see if he should occupy the cell next to Walker. If things weren't rotten at Grady, Emory, and Atlanta at large, the powers that be would investigate Brown's architecture firm R L Brown & Associates and see if he ever gave his own company any sweetheart deals while he served as the Chief Trustee at Grady Hospital. If things weren't so rotten though, someone besides Walker would have been charged with some crime, because I find it impossible to believe that one person could be convicted of so many crimes and no one else did anything wrong.

Things are rotten, so instead of being investigated, Robert Brown finds himself as a prominent member of the Grady Task Force. The task force was set up the come up with solutions to the current fiscal crisis. Robert Brown, who oversaw Grady as it tumbled into financial crisis, is now one of the people in charge of getting it out of the crisis. Excuse me, if this doesn't seem like John Gotti being asked to come up with solutions to dealing with the Mafia.

The problem is this. Grady Hospital is a public hospital and so it is run with tax payer money. Grady's financial woes will probably take an influx of roughly 100 million dollars of tax payer money. If the funds are being directed by the very people that created the problem, then each tax payer is about to sink more of their money into a black hole of corruption and incompetence.

Re Examining the Case of State Senator Charles Walker

For more than a decade State Senator Charles Walker was among the most if not the most powerful politicians in the state of Georgia. His reign came to a humiliating end in June of 2004 when he was indicted on 142 separate counts of corruption related charges. His indictment read like an alphabet soup of terms straight out of your favorite law or cop show: wire fraud, conspiracy, tax evasion, extortion. If it was on your favorite lawyer show, he was probably charged with it. Of those 142 charges, he was convicted on 127 counts.

The scope and breadth of his crimes was staggering, shocking, and ultimately it is the back bone of the widespread corruption that is currently leading to the potential closing of Grady Hospital. Walker used a network of power and influence to either get into bed with powerful people or strong arm those that refused to play ball. For instance, Walker ran a newspaper and anyone that wouldn't play ball would be threatened with negative publicity from his newspaper. He used his ability to procure government funds as a string to get hospitals to hire temps at his temp company.

Here is where the case gets shocking. After being convicted on 127 counts he was sentenced to ten years in jail. Now, normally, when someone receives such a light sentences after being convicted of so many things, we would assume that he flipped on others. In this case, he didn't. In fact, besides Walker, his daughter, and the companies they ran, NO ONE, NO ONE, was charged or convicted of anything. Furthermore, the authorities would have us believe that the proper sentence, without ratting out anyone, for 127 separate convictions is ten years. There are people busted with drugs that are serving more time than that. It seems the corruption that Walker pulled off was nothing compared to the corruption involved in investigating and executing his case.

In fact, we don't need to speculate as to whether or not others were involved in the corruption. One only needed to be in the courtroom on the day that Joyce Harris, the chief prosecution witness, testified. According to a source that was there when she testified, she accused Walker of demanding a quid pro quo. Grady is a public hospital. Walker, who again was one of the most powerful politicians in Georgia, was able to influence just how much money they received. He demanded that the temp company he ran hire up to 50 people per day (if you read the link Grady normally hired a handful per day) in order to receive funds. Harris testified to a lot more than just Walker. She accused Grady CEO Ed Renford, and Tim Jefferson Chief Legal Counsel of Grady, of threatening her safety if she blew the whistle. She accused Robert Brown, President of the board of Trustees of Grady Hospital, of accepting kickbacks and sexual favors. She accused William Casarella, Chief Medical Officer at Grady, of looking the other way. Yet, despite these incendiary accusations and 127 separate convictions of Walker, the powers that be at Grady were never investigated.

In other words, first, the authorities would have us believe that this guy was able to pull off so much criminality that it lead to the conviction on 127 separate counts, and that he pulled all of this off on his own. Furthermore, the authorities would have us believe that a proper sentence for the conviction on 127 separate charges is ten years in prison.

Furthermore, right around the time that Walker's trial was ending, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in the Dept. of Health and Human Services issued a report on Grady. Here is the conclusion of the report.

the conditions at your hospital pose an immediate and serious threat to the health and safety of your patients

You think that is shocking. What is really shocking is what happened to all of the players that were not only involved in the corruption of Walker but the conditions that lead to the scathing conclusion of that report.

The only one to lose their job as a result of the Walker scandal was Joyce Harris the one person who tried to stop the corruption. Ed Renford retired with a pension that pays him six figures per year. Tim Jefferson continues in the exact same position. William Casarella was actually promoted within Emory University. Robert Brown did eventually lose his sweetheart position but that was due to a separte scandal.

The reason this is important is because Grady is on the verge of collapse and its collapse threatens the entire medical system in Atlanta and Georgia. As a friend and Atlanta resident recently told me, the people the are the most scared are the other hospitals because Grady treats the patients no one else wants. Now, the legislature is debating whether or not to feed Grady with millions of more dollars. Make no mistake, Grady is in this mess because it is obscenely corrupt, and the exact same people that caused the corruption continue to be in power now. If they are fed more money, that is the ultimate throwing good money after bad.

If people are serious about saving Grady the first thing they need to do is clean house. You cannot save Grady if the same people that put it in this mess are in charge of getting it out. I hope the good people of Georgia will wake up to the obscene levels of corruption that have put this essential hospital on the brink of collapse and that they demand that the resolution is once and for all no longer the same old same old.

(Updated)

Much of the story about Grady Hospital is so confusing that anyone that winds up in the middle is likely to be confused. I don't believe that this particular one is an example of this, however, you should also know how State Senator Charles Walker fits into the entire puzzle so to speak. Thus, I have put together a summary of the entire fiasco that tries to put all of its moving parts together in one piece. Please read it for guidance. Also, please check out the recommendations that I and my colleagues have put together for fixing Grady Hospital.

Also, please follow this link so that you can hear me and a colleague discuss the Walker case along with several other matters related to Grady and Emory.

Grady and Emory: Culture of Corruption (Update)

As I have delved deeper and deeper into the evolving narrative that links Emory University, Grady Hospital and potential malfeasance, I have realized that is very important to separate facts and evidence from speculation, assertion, and conclusions. For now, I want to report only facts, in other words, things I can verify.

Thus, it is a fact that Grady Hospital is at the center of a culture of corruption. I know this to be a fact because one only needs to do a google search to see that there is documented corruption at Grady Hospital

...he wanted Grady to hire as many as 50 a day, though the public hospital - operated under the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority - had previously hired as
few as three a day. Harris adds that her boss, then-Grady CEO Edward Renford,
demanded that she "schmooze" Walker more and cautioned her not to make him
angry.

But Harris says she made the Augusta lawmaker angrier by not hiring more temps. She claimed in a sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit that she was fired in 1998 partly because of her complaints about payments to Walker. Grady denied her allegations. Her lawsuit was dismissed in 2002.

But she wasn't the only one accusing Walker of shady dealings. Before Democrats lost power, when lobbyists came to his Capitol office seeking favors, he reportedly would pat the head of a toy dog on his desk and ask, "What's in it for my little friend?"

According to a federal indictment, Walker's temp company earned $2.5 million from Grady between 1996 and 2000. His corruption trial begins May 23 in Augusta. Harris hopes to testify against him. Her 1999 TV interview about the senator helped spur inquiries into his dealings.

Now, let's look at more facts. Joyce Harris, the whistleblower, is no longer working at Grady and in fact doesn't even work in Georgia. Ed Renford (referenced in the article as Grady CEO)recently retired with a rather nice retirement package.

Furthermore, let's look at two more high level people at Grady who weren't mentioned in the article. First, there is lead counsel Tim Jefferson who not only continues to be employed by Emory but as chief legal counsel. Then, there is Chief Trustee of Grady Robert Brown. He is no longer employed by Grady but if you click this link you will see why.

Again, I don't want to deal with anything but facts. The facts are that there were four people people that there were four people in a position of power when this scandal broke. The whistleblower lost her job and everyone else kept theirs. Again, I only deal in facts...as for assertions, speculation, and conclusions, those I will leave to the audience.

Now, let's look at another completely unrelated bit of corruption at Grady Hospital.

By contract with the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority, the Emory Medical Care Foundation provides physicians to treat patients at Grady Hospital. Most of these services are billed to the Georgia Medicaid program.

Since July 1997, the State Health Care Fraud Control Unit, composed of prosecutors from the Georgia Attorney General's office, Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents, and auditors from the State Department of Audits, has been investigating Emory's Medicaid billing. The State concluded that there were two specific areas in which Medicaid billing by EMCF was not in compliance with the policies and procedures of the Georgia Medicaid program. First, the State contended that from 1993 through mid-1997, EMCF billed for outpatient obstetrical services at higher service levels than were warranted by the documentation, a practice known as "upcoding." Second, the State's review also indicated that during the same period Medicaid billings submitted for services provided by residents and interns under the supervision of teaching physicians were inadequately documented and did not comply with Medicaid rules concerning "teaching physician presence." Although the investigation revealed that inappropriate billing and documentation may have occurred, the State found that all of the patients whose records were examined had, in fact, received treatment. The quality of services provided by Emory physicians was not an issue
in the investigation.

Attorney General Baker stated that "Emory cooperated fully with the investigation and the investigation revealed no evidence of criminal wrongdoing." He further commended Emory for its role in consistently providing high quality health care to the indigent citizens of Fulton and DeKalb counties.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Emory Medical Care Foundation expressly denies any wrongdoing, but has agreed to pay the Georgia Department of Medical Assistance a lump sum of $4,502,693 to settle all possible claims. The Foundation also agreed to several compliance provisions, including continued implementation of a compliance office and program that were initiated in 1997. The State considered this compliance program, in addition to Emory's cooperation with the investigation, to be strongly mitigating factors in the settlement of the case.

Of course, if you still aren't convinced maybe you should .re read this, or this.

(Update)

Much of the story surrounding Grady has many tentacles and thus one could get lost in the middle of it. I have found that to be the case for many readers with certain pieces. I don't believe this is one of them. I believe this piece speaks for itself, and it should be easy to follow no matter how big your exposure to the entire case. That said, I also think that everyone should understand how this culture of corruption fits into the overall picture. Thus, I have put together a summary of the entire fiasco that tries to put all of its moving parts together in one piece. Please read it for guidance. Also, please check out the recommendations that I and my colleagues have put together for fixing Grady Hospital.